Meet the Hacker Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine ficlet Chapter 1
by DmitriTrevelyan
Summary: When the Gentleman sends the Mole and the Cleaner to retrieve a doctor for the group's wounds, he is talking about a doctor... right? [sorry I'm terrible at summaries, I try to update weekly if not nightly all comments and likes are insanely appreciated! MolexHacker later on]
1. Chapter 1

I was bleeding. I could feel it in my nose, coating my throat. I wasn't the only one bleeding, but it was most prominent obviously for me. Red couldn't open her left eye, Yellow's monkey-thing was half dead, my best friend, the Cleaner, didn't APPEAR damaged but I could tell he was struggling as he silently moved through us all. There was a silent panic unmistakably familiar with us all, as Teal promised his way out of this as usual. "Pray tell, there is a friend of mine who I know can get us out of this mess. He's at the local hospital, and he's just the one to do it."

He was speaking of a doctor, right?

The others continued on as if nothing was out of place, a small group of stragglers in the largest of Monaco. All thieves by trade (even me, right? I was only here to pay Teal back a promise I'd made a while back. I'd of course rather be working.), some more silent than others but all just as guilty. Though I doubt any of us meant to end up in this situation, it just kinda happened. And let me tell you, you'll never know a man as well more than when he's broken and traveling streetlight to streetlight.

"What kind of friend are we speaking about, Gentleman?" Red asked curiously, her braid swinging back and forth with each blood step she took.

"He's… interesting. He'll know how to hack our way out of this though, I promise. I wouldn't lead you astray, would I?" His eyes twinkled mysteriously as his words hung in the air, only to be broken by the sound of a siren zoom by. "Seems we're near our destination, my friends. I'll stay out here, yes? He's on the fourth floor. With such a delicate… matter as this, Mole, Cleaner, I'd suggest you two would be best for this. You'll recognize him easily. Green."

And with that, Teal and the select others found a place to camp in the bushes, able to sit and rest and take care of their wounds until we came back. My eyes, hidden under my goggles, glanced at the Cleaner and he squinted more than usual at the light shining in his face from my miner's hat.

"Sorry," I chuckled quietly, switching the light off. He shook his head once and started off, towards the hospital. Walking behind him, I studied him once more. He had a normal frame, tall, which was fitting considering his habit of looming over people when they didn't notice. His brown hair, cropped short and with streaks of blonde, didn't seem to move as he walked, his arms hanging low almost like a gorilla's. His large feet didn't make a sound as he stepped in front of the hospital, moving swiftly and easily taking down the front door guard with the simple swing of his arm. He didn't believe in killing, no; instead he injected them with a sleep dart, using his leg to cushion their fall before moving on to his next victim. He did this all silently, not speaking one word more than he usually did. Which was none.

I smiled a toothy grin at him. "That never gets old," I commented on his takedown method. He didn't respond but I knew he wasn't hostile at me. He never seemed to grow hostile at anyone except for Blue, who seemed to tease him quite a bit in a friendly way.

The hospital seemed dark, and slightly more empty than a normal hospital would, so after we entered the front door (and Cleaner gently took out the front assistant, a slightly chubby blonde woman who had something peculiarly white around her neck), we were able to roam the halls freely as long as we were quiet and able to sneak around whomever we needed to. I'd vowed when I was a young boy that I'd never come back to a hospital, as the fear I had shook me to the bones sometimes, but I'd do this for my friends anytime. They mattered a lot more than stupid fear, even Yellow's little monkey thing (Johnson? Jackson? I think it's name is Ellis. At least it can get gold).

We took the elevator up to the second floor, and took it and the third floor just as easily as the first floor. On the elevator to the fourth floor, quaint music played from the ceiling speakers as I looked around. A single doctor's glove sat on the carpeted ground in the corner, next to what seemed to be a wall plug- but the front of it was removed and wires were poking out. Curious, I wanted to touch the wires. I reached out, and just before I made contact, Cleaner grabbed my wrist, his grip strong as he gave me a look, his jawline set. "Alright, alright. Sorry." I shook my head at him and he let go of me as the doors opened.

This floor.. the halls were empty and dark, a HINT of green light illuminated it just enough for slight visibility, no guards to be seen. Cleaner and I exchanged a look as we traveled down, the light getting brighter, a weird hybrid of green and fluorescent. The doors to each room were open, empty hospital beds laying inside. This was creepier than the time we snuck into the aquarium, Red and I. The urge to turn on my headlight grew stronger but I pushed it away, my hands clenching and unclenching to keep themselves busy.

We came upon a room, door closed. Shadowy green light seemed to ooze around the edges of the door, dust particles floating slowly in it. My hand reached for the doorknob hesitantly, as if waiting for the Cleaner to grab it again, but when he didn't, I twisted the knob. The door opened easily and I let the knob go as it slowly swung open. The room before us was empty; except for the shadow in the left side of it. A medium-height shadow, leaning against the wall, slight murmuring coming from it. My heart raced as I grew scared, one hand on my freedom spoon. The shadow's head turned and looked at me, bright green eyes piercing mine and in a state of panic I reached up and flicked my headlight on, shining it on the beast.

This beast turned out to be what seemed a man, around my age or maybe a little older from what I could tell (23? 24?), hooded with his collar up around his mouth, all in black. A loud hissing sound emitted from beneath the collar and the Cleaner quickly flung his hand over my light, shrouding us all in green darkness again.

"Y-You ain't a doctor," was all I could muster as I looked at him, more inquisitive than fearful now.

"getmeoutofhere."

A silence followed.

"Wha?"

He hurled himself in my direction, stopping in front of my face, the green of his eyes the only thing visible under the hood. He spoke again, the collar moving quickly. "getmeout. rightnow. out." His breathing was quick and slightly rushed. I could only find myself staring at him, trying to make sense of the situation.

Cleaner nodded once, per usual, not asking any questions as he made his way out of the door and back into the hallway. The not-doctor followed him quickly, moving swiftly as if he was used to it, not looking back at me. I stood in the room for a second, looking around. Every single wall plug had the front removed, wires agape. I didn't touch them this time, yet simply shut the light off my hat and followed them.


	2. Chapter 2

I wasn't strong, not in the slightest. Maybe in my arms, a little, from lugging my freedom spoon round, but I don't see how that could make Teal think that I could easily move furniture. But apparently he did, which is why I now stood here, moving a mattress by myself down the clattered hallway. As I moved the soft sleeping waffle around the corner, my back hit something hard.  
"What are you doing?" Blue asked me, tilting his head at the mattress. He'd just gotten home from a mission I guessed, as his loose clothes were saturated with ashes from a fireplace and his cheeky grin was replaced with a more sober look.  
"Why, Green's moving in to the room next to mine!" I exclaimed, grinning at him.  
"His name is Hacker."  
"Nah, it's Green."  
"Hacker."  
"Green."  
"GENTLEMEN!" Teal appeared in the hallway, giving us both stern looks. "I don't pay you all to twiddle your thumbs and bicker!" His nose was in the air as he looked at us haughtily.  
"You don't pay us at all…" Blue muttered, slipping his phone in his pocket and moving to the other side of the mattress, lifting it up. "Come on, pull it. I'll help."  
We moved it into Green's new room, in the corner of it, surrounded by wall plugs. A computer desk was set up beforehand, and already cords were gathered in bunches around the floor. We hadn't found out until yesterday that Green was going to be moving into Teal's mansion. Shucks, I just found out that Green wasn't even really a doctor. He wasn't able to fix our wounds or help or anything (I guess I should've figured that out when we had to rescue him from the psychiatric ward) but at least we'll all get to know him better. Maybe he'll even be a new friend!

Piece after piece of furniture was moved by Blue and I, with the "feminine touch" of Orange, until Green's room was finally set up. When it was finished, Green himself walked in, and looked around. I watched him, eyes wide, happily waiting to see his response to what we'd done for him.  
His piercing eyes searched the room, one bony hand on his hip, the other adjusting his hood. After a few seconds, he looked right at Teal. "toobright. needtoinstallmoreplugs. it'lldofornow."

Merde!" Teal groaned and stormed out of the room, Orange following him, 'hmphing' unhappily. Blue chuckled lowly, shaking his head as he strolled out of the room. Immediately, Green- Hacker, I should say- dimmed the lights, unlocked his suitcase on the bed, and began pulling out electronic device after electronic device- a computer, a laptop, a modem thingy, something that kept blinking, you name it, he had it. I watched in wonder as he set them all up, plugging things into other things and connecting wires. It was impressive, really- but it would've been more impressive if I'd known a damn thing he was doing.  
"What's this?" I asked, picking up one of the blinking things. An audible gasp was heard from under the collar as his entire body tensed up. An exceptionally pale hand shot out from his figured shadow as he snatched the blinky blink from my hand. I looked at him in shock, mostly of his speed, and his eyebrows (or what I could see of them anyways) were furrowed angrily at me.  
"don'ttouch. getout. didn'tknowyouwerestillhere."  
"Oh goodness, I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-"  
"out."  
We stared at each other for a second. Then I promptly did the opposite, flopping down on his bed amidst his devices. His hands made clenching motions as I did it and I could sense the frustration, even though I didn't mean to cause it. I just wanted to have a new friend.  
He shook his head quickly, as if ridding himself of something, then just went back to setting things up. I watched in wonder as things finally started turning on, emitting light into the dim room. He moved over swiftly, shutting the light completely off as the electronics let off hazy light. In habit, my hand traveled up to my hat, flicking on the bright light. It lit him up in full and I finally got a good look at his outfit. Baggy dark jeans, stained with something, a black jacket striped with green, the hood up, the collar on his shirt underneath covering his mouth but not able to cover a sliver of his pale face, green eyes-  
His hand flew over my hat, knocking it off and onto the floor where he promptly stepped on it once, breaking the light and shrouding us in darkness again. His breathing was quick and quite ragged as he hunched over it, but mine kept catching as I stared at the broken hat, tears welling in my eyes. "M-My hat, you…! My favorite hat!"  
"nolight. isaid- out." His low voice softened slightly on the last word as he noticed the tear falling down my cheek slowly, making a clean trail in the layer of dirt I'd accumulated from digging so much.  
I quickly sniffled and stood up suddenly, himself taking a few steps back quickly, not faltering. "I-I understand, I'll go, I'm sorry," I said quickly, moving over and opening the door, ignoring the light that filtered in as I left. Hacker made no sound as I walked down the hallway, hatless and trying to not make my steps so heavy, before I got to my room and closed the door softly. I then, on the spot, fell forward onto my bed and lay there, with my face buried in my pillow. It seemed like such a stupid thing to cry over, a broken hat, but that hat meant as much to me as my spoon, and that mixed with his sudden harshness as he broke the hat- call me fragile but I just wasn't used to that sort of thing from someone I wanted to befriend.  
A few minutes later, maybe seconds, felt like hours, a soft knock was heard at the door. I made a low exasperated sound into the pillow and the door opened, Orange stepping in, without Teal. She left the door open behind her as she sauntered over to my bed and sat down. "Alright, tell me what's wrong. I could hear your teenage angst in the hallway all the way from my room." I felt her nails against my shirt as she rested her hand against my back.  
I lifted a single finger and pointed it in the direction of the Hacker's room, and she sighed. "Ah. I had a feeling that was it. Were you trying to befriend him, honey?"  
Another loud sound into the pillow.  
"Alright, alright. Sit up and I'll talk to you about it." I sat up groggily, the light seeming too bright after staring into darkness for a while. Orange smiled when I looked at her sadly. "Cheer up, darling, and listen to me. The Hacker is… different, I think. I hear my Gentleman talking about him strangely, how he stays up all night and sleeps during the day, doesn't like other humans, things like that. If you're going to friend him he's going to be a tough nut to crack. But sugar, trust me when I say…" Her bright eyes glanced in the direction of his room. "For you, it's probably worth it."  
I sniffled again, feeling slightly cheered up at her kind words. I could see why Teal favored her so much. Other than being stunningly beautiful (which didn't even account for a BIT of who she really was), she was smart, down to earth, and extremely kind. Which kinda made up for her shopping addiction. "I… You don't think i should give up?"  
"Of course not. You're the Mole, bright eyed and bushy-tailed and you're one of the most considerate people I know. Don't give up on him. He just needs to come around. Alright?" She patted my back affectionately then stood up, making her way for the door. "You've got this. And if you don't, give him a good whack with your shovel for me, alright?" She winked, giggling. Before she could make it to the door, there was a soft thump, then quick footsteps. We exchanged curious glances before she peeked outside the room, then let out a twinkly laugh. "I'll talk to you later Mole, don't give up," she said before disappearing out of the room. Intrigued, I got up off the bed and wandered over to the doorway, looking around. The hallway was empty, except something small at my feet. I bent down and picked it up in shock.  
It was my hat, fixed and looking just like new with a small note attached to it. I flicked on the light, now working perfectly and read the note.  
"i'msorry."


	3. Chapter 3

The wind was picking up more than usual, whistling in our ears as we crouched in the bushes outside the large bank, Hacker and I. I watched him, grateful that you couldn't see my eyes in my goggles, as he wired this weird radio type system. He was muttering incoherent things under his breath, pulling an antenna out of the... thing before gently lowering it to the ground and sitting it down. "thatshoulddoit"  
"What does that do?" I asked, poking it with my foot.  
"shhhhutuporelsethey'llhearus" He gave me a look before shaking his head. "turnsoffallalarms. doesn'tworkforlasersystems."  
"Ohhhhh," I nodded my head like I knew exactly what he meant. "Alarms. Yup, I hate those darned things. Always getting me in trouble." With a toothy grin, I crouched and ran across the driveway to another bush, Freedom Spoon dragging behind me, Green following with a small sigh. "What was it Teal said we were here for again? Recon?" I asked. The wind picked up again, and I clutched my hat to my head so it wouldn't fly off.  
"gentleman. shiftyfellow. lowsecuritymansion. importantdocumentshere. inandou-"  
"You ever thought about talkin slower?" I asked, letting go of my hat as the howling wind took a break. "It's just, you speak so fast it's hard to understand you most of the time."  
Completely ignoring me, he rolled to the next bush over before running up to the side of the building, picking the lock, and sneaking in. I stared at him as he disappeared into the building, then followed suit. He'll tell me when he feels comfortable. Probably.  
The building was high security even with the alarms disabled. Guards patrolled the bright hallways, rifles rested on their shoulders. The click of their boots as they walked on the linoleum was accompanied by the clicks and ticks of the individuals in the back rooms, packing up the money for the day then heading home for dinner with their families or their cat. Every room or so had a small, rotating device mounted on the wall, with a laser scanning the room. From behind a table, Hacker and I watched a guard walk by the laser. It scanned the guard, making a series of beeping noises until it passed by the ID on the front of his suit, then the beeping slowed to a stop as it calmed down. He passed by, unharmed. I don't know what the Gentleman needed so badly that he'd put us in this type of situation, but I'd hoped it was worth it.  
"We'll need to get the ID off of someone…" I murmured quietly, holding Freedom Spoon closer to me as the laser passed over our heads again.  
"negative. it'llstillknow. sneak." He waited until the laser was on the other side of the room, then rolled quickly directly to the mounted laser. The frantic beeping started up again, red light honing in on him until he rolled to a sweet spot right under it. It calmed again, the beeping stopping as the laser went back to slowly spinning around the room. He had calculated exactly where the laser couldn't reach him.  
His head tilted up as he reached up and started disarming the laser. I watched in wonder, feeling something strange. _He sure is smart…_ I thought, feeling myself smile a little. I promptly shook my head. Mission first. Then… whatever that was. Though I still found it hard to focus, as his head was tilted up, I could see some more of his face. I stood up a little, clicking on my headlight and bobbing my head at him, attempting to aim the light directly at his face to see more. I could make out part of his nose, pale like the rest of his face, and some of the shape around his eyes, the bags under them-  
He disarmed it with alarming speed then glanced over at me. I stopped bobbing and sheepishly turned off the light, walking across the room to him, spoon in one hand. He shook his head then moved over and peeked into the next room. "damnit. anotherlaser."  
"I got it!" I exclaimed. A quickly hit the wall next to me a few times with my hand, judging the sound. I could tell there was slight water on the other side, perfect. Then, with no warning, I lugged Freedom up on my shoulder, and slammed him into the wall, creating a large dent. I dropped the end of it, pulling it back and onto my shoulder again before digging into the weak wall repeatedly, ignoring the noise and large puffs of drywall smoke. There was a water fountain on the other side, with some shrubbery grown in it. Only that, and the attention of just about every guard in the surrounding hallways.  
Hacker raced by me, his small hand grabbing onto the front of my shirt as he flew into the shrubbery and jerked me in with him. The guards stared, then one by one slowly went back to what they were doing. Hacker sighed softly, then let go of my shirt. I broke into quiet laughter, shaking the bush slightly.  
"iseethedocument. stayhere. i'mgoingtogetit. ifyoumovethenI'llkillyou." He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out sturdy black gloves, slipping them on and making his hands look larger. He then stuck his head out of the bush, glanced around, then left, crouching and walking within the shadows against the wall. I watched as he snuck around two of the guards, getting under the next laser system in the room, and disarming it. It shut off, gaining attention, and he slipped away from it just as most of the guards went to check on it, making easy work in getting into the open room at the opposite side of me and grabbing the document with his gloved hands.  
I grinned, glad to have this mission successful. I rested Freedom Spoon on my shoulder, checking the room we'd come from to make sure no guards were passing. There were none, but. There sat a little black cat that had been passing through, his big grey eyes turned shamefully at me. My heart immediately melted for the small animal, and I took a step towards it just as the Hacker snuck back into the bush. "moleleaveitalone..!"  
I took another step towards it and it meowed loudly. Immediately the laser in the room, turned back on by one of the guards, honed in on me and before I could move it began emitting loud beeps. Red light lit me up and I could see three guards in the next room over look up in shock and begin making their way over to me.  
I could sense Hacker's panic as he flew from the bush, looking frantically around the room for something to hack or somewhere to hide. "gogogo!" he shouted uncharacteristically, running the opposite direction of the guards. I followed, hefting Freedom on my shoulder so I could run faster. We made it to the next room, the guards following close behind, and Hacker looked at me. "canyoutakethemoutwithyourshovel?" he begged, quickly taking his gloves back off and shoving them in his pocket again. I shook my head. Suddenly, I noticed an open wall vent behind him, about seven feet up from the ground. I immediately ran over, looking behind me.  
"Come on, get in!" I shouted, ignoring the guards completely. I hoisted Freedom Spoon from my shoulder up into the vent, wedging it securely in the grate. Using the handle for leverage, I jumped up and scrambled into the dark vent, quickly turning on my headlight. I turned back around and saw Hacker, guards almost to him, struggling to jump up to the vent because of his height. "Take my hand!" I reached out and he took my hand with both of his, his grip tight. I pulled, moving him up slightly, but my strength wasn't enough. I sat back on my butt and positioned my feet against the spoon, pushing against it for strength as I pulled him up, into the vent, and promptly onto me, the spoon losing it's leverage and falling next to us.  
We lay there in total silence, except for our hushed breath, as the guards bobbed their heads at the vent as if trying to get better light to see us. After a few seconds, one shrugged and left, the other following slowly. As soon as they left the room, we both relaxed again and he pushed himself up, but his back hit the top of the vent and he fell back on top of me. I couldn't help but stare at him, my eyes still hidden by my goggles, wishing he wouldn't try to get up.  
"H-Hey, calm down. If you move too much, they'll hear us again," I said soothingly, propping up on my elbows. He shook his head quickly, crawling this time up my body, unintentionally moving over my head with his… junk in my face, and crawling away. He seemed more shaken up than he made known.  
I sat for a second, a little surprised, before grabbing Freedom and following him. "thisleadsout." he said, crawling a little more then pushing the grate off the other end of the vents. It crashed, and a gust of cool air moved in from outside. He stealthily crawled out of the vent and landed on his feet outside, and I followed clumsily, almost tripping.  
"Why did you panic so much in there, Hacker? You never panic like that," I noticed, following him away from the building as he made sure the document was still with him. He paused at my words, then kept going slower. It was silent for a while, dark outside. The sun had set while we were in there and the stars were beginning to show overhead. Blue would be done with dinner anytime now, and the thought of it made me want to get home quicker.  
"….Idon'tlikebeingchased. remindsmeoftheasylum." His head was turned away from me.  
"You don't like the asylum much."  
"no."  
Conversation stopped again, but that was all I'd needed to hear. Maybe he was more… human than he let on. Maybe there was more going on in that head of his than I had originally thought. And just maybe there was a way to befriend him.


	4. Chapter 4

"And to top it all off, he's handsome," I gushed to the Cleaner. He'd been sitting on the small futon I'd dragged down into my tunnel system, the room outside where I usually slept. The cushion bent down where he sat, the other areas adorned with dust particles and various digging tools. He'd brought breakfast down, thankfully, as I'd forgotten to eat… as usual. Today he'd brought eggs, slightly cold, cooked by the Lockpick himself, accompanied by hashbrowns, and my favorite, bacon.  
Cleaner sat, silent, only nodding once or twice while I talked for maybe, what, five minutes? Ten? Maybe an hour. Maybe. At one time he picked a part of the bacon off and ate it, but that was all. I looked at him now, grinning, waiting for a reaction. "Ya think he's handsome too, right?"  
He shook his head, then paused for a second. He shook his head again, and I knew what he meant. "You don't, but you're okay with him?" He nodded. "Alright. I understand. Thanks for the approval." I sat next to him cheerily, munching on the hashbrowns. "Well, thank ya kindly for bringing this down for me. I mean it a lot. I do forget nourishment sometimes… I guess.." I chuckled, eating more. He broke into the slightest of smiles, then stood up. I checked the clock I had mounted on the wall. "Oh, you're on a mission today, right?" I asked. He nodded once again. "So I heard. Most of y'all are out, right? Seems I'lll be home alone again." A shake of the head. "No? Oh, that's right. Hacker and Red will be here too. Well, I won't be seeing them at all, unfortunately. I've got all this diggin to do, I'm hoping to at least get a mile down today," I informed him between bites. I finished the meal, and he emptied his pipe's ash onto the plate before taking it and walking towards the ladder to the outside of my tunnel. "Alright, well, I'll see you later tonight Cleaner! Be careful on your mission!" I smiled as he threw a hand up, waving, then leaving the tunnel. THe smile left as I clicked on my headlight. I have work to do.

A few hours later, I was hungry again for some reason, sweating like the dickens, and needing a break. I wiped the sweat off my forehead, and turned around, staring into the darkness of the clean tunnel I'd dug. Slipping Freedom into my utility belt, I started my way back to fresh food, a warm place to rest, when I first heard it. A.. rumbling of sorts. It shook the ground, made dust fall from the ceiling. I looked up in panic, sweat rolling down my face, then immediately I knew. I took off as fast as I could, hearing things crumbling around me. This wasn't the first time this had happened but… this was different. As I raced down the tunnel, regretting digging it so far, the ceiling in front of me began crumbling, some of it hitting my hat and rolling to the floor. A large chunk thunked to the ground in front of me, stopping me and suddenly, there was dust everywhere. In my nose, in my throat, choking, strangling. I couldn't see, I could only hear the tunnel collapse, and feel the rocks hit my body, hit Freedom Spoon, pin me to the ground…


End file.
